November 1, 2026: The trees became loud, as if the leaves that filled their branches felt a need within them to be heard and seen just prior to their departure — never again to be seen or heard again. Sure, there would be a rebirth in the spring, but this generation
When my daughter Molly was little, I used to take her to a local ice cream shop called Big Scoop. She would typically get a bowl of ice cream that didn't sound too appealing to me — bubble gum or licorice as I recall, or something equally as nonsensical
In the midst of a bout with anxiety I was having difficulty managing... sitting awake at 4:30 in the morning, I finally came to the realization that I was not going to finish the story that I had set out to complete. The piece that I was writing felt
“I think you're going to find a lot of fulfillment out of life by just doing what you want to do and genuinely exploring what it is that you want, rather than doing what other people expect you to do, or society expects you to do, or what
I remember my Grandpa Starr being a pretty gruff, no-nonsense type of person. He had the tendency to be short with me and my brother at times. My brother Jon and I would help him with yard work when my family would visit him and my Grandma Starr down
A few weeks ago, I met up with my friends, Estin, Taylor and Emma to play pickleball in the late afternoon after work. After pickleball, Emma headed to the gym. Estin, Taylor and I were hungry, so we grabbed a few burritos from a taco shop here in town and
On Sunday, August 28, 1988 I went with my parents and brother to an airshow at Ramstein Airbase near Kaiserslautern, Germany. The event was called "Flugtag '88". I didn't know it at the time, but this random Sunday would be a formative one that would
Author's Note: Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned in these stories. I was wrong. I had made a mistake a few years ago and was now being called out for it by a guy in Switzerland on a random
What happens to the leaves after they turn red and golden and fall away? What happens to the singing birds when they can't sing any longer? What happens to their quick wings?... ~ Mary Oliver, "Roses, Late Summer" Sunday morning, September 6, 2026, 9:51am: I began
All good things must come to an end. ~ English proverb When I was a child, in middle school perhaps, I remember reading L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The copy I had was a hard cover, oversized book with illustrations throughout. As I recall, I got
This past week I had the unique privilege of taking a road trip with my daughter back to Fort Collins, Colorado for her junior year of college. Our journey took two days through six states... roughly 19 hours of driving. As I went to bed the night before our departure,
Face to Face with Deceit I had been taken advantage of... deceived. Anger came, but I discovered sorrow and grief just below the anger. From a certain point of view, this person — this friend of mine — was gone. A stranger now stood in their place. I felt small and naive